Sports writer in recovery. Still appearing sometimes at
@HeraldSports
. Hoops junkie.
@DOsports
alum. FIU Law '26. I'm from Maryland and nobody can beat me.
Matthew Tkachuk's first hockey memory isn't actually his. It's his mom's. It was his first game and "I guess I was like by far the worst player out there," Tkachuk said. "She thinks that’s hilarious."
That didn't last long. On the birth of a superstar:
States with the most players picked in the 2021 NFL Draft:
Florida: 37
Texas: 33
Georgia: 21
California: 19
South Florida: 17
Louisiana: 13
Broward County: 12
North Carolina: 10
Ohio: 9
Michigan: 8
Pennsylvania: 8
ESPN just showed Jimmy Butler walking into the arena wearing a Big Face Coffee hat. Goran Dragic was with him, wearing a hat that said "PAID MY TWENTY."
Rhett Lashlee proved exactly what kind of offense can work at Miami, and a new coach took over and went back to doing everything we saw not work for a decade.
Don Chaney Jr. has shut down his recruitment and is positioning himself as a leader for Miami's 2020 class. "We’re going to make them pay. We’re going to make everybody pay for they’ve done, what they’ve said about UM."
Bam Adebayo on Jimmy Butler: "He tries to say I'm the reason why we go. At the end of the day, I always say he's the one, so we bicker back and forth about it. ... He's going to keep saying it's me. I'm going to keep saying it's him, so we're going to figure it out."
South Florida teams in state championships:
8A: Columbus
7A: St. Thomas Aquinas
6A: Central
5A: Northwestern
4A: Booker T. Washington
3A: Chaminade-Madonna
2A: Champagnat Catholic
Jacurri Brown talked to Mario Cristobal on the phone earlier today and says his "mind is set on Miami." The four-star quarterback is expecting an in-home visit from Cristobal later this week and there's a good chance he'll be in Coral Gables this weekend.
Miami Central linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, wearing a couple state championship rings, is the Warren Henry Player of the Year. He's set to sign with Miami next week.
Tomorrow is an unreal sports day in South Florida:
Panthers-Lightning, Game 4: 12:30 p.m.
Heat-Bucks, Game 1: 2 p.m.
Marlins-Mets: 4:10 p.m.
Inter Miami-Chicago Fire FC: 6 p.m.
Mario Cristobal delivers another signing splash, flipping elite IMG tight end Jaleel Skinner from Alabama on the final day of the early signing period.
Rueben Bain said he told Mario Cristobal he was committing Sunday. "He was in a private jet," he said. "He turned bright red and kind of threw his phone across the plane. It was an amazing feeling seeing him get so excited, so hyped, so I really knew I was wanted there."
The decision to overturn Max Strus' three-pointer happened 2:36 after the fact in game time and 5:11 later in real time. Erik Spoelstra said he was "in shock" at the "unusual" swing and thinks the NBA should reexamine how replay reviews are handled.
Quick note on Julian Armella's decision not to sign today: I'd heard over the weekend he was probably going to hold off. He's not enrolling early, anyway, and Mario Cristobal's arrival in Miami is playing a role.
Donald Chaney Jr. started a playoff game in eighth grade. UM offered him before he began his freshman year. The running back spent four years as one of the most hyped prospects in Miami and he kept delivering. On Wednesday, he'll officially become a Cane.
Nineteen years ago, Sean Taylor led Gulliver Prep to its first and only state championship. Gulliver is undefeated and back in title contention this year, and Gabe Taylor, Sean's younger brother, is a big reason why. "I had to make my family proud."
Miami didn't have a single top-100 recruit committed before this week. Mario Cristobal has now landed two in three days with Nyjalik Kelly and Jaleel Skinner.
Anyway, I talked to the Miami couple who used their American flag to save a falling cat in the fourth quarter. One of them is a UM facilities manager. They have the flag at every game. They also got peed on in the process.
Leonard Taylor is "locked in" with Miami because of his relationship with Todd Stroud. Now
@56reasons_
is trying to add more five-star talent to the Hurricanes' Class of 2021.
The good news is Miami fans are mad tonight because the Canes blew a game they probably should've won. It's legitimate progress from the last few games like this!
Mike McDaniel went from a walk-on at Yale to an NFL coaching job at 22. He uses Allen Iverson video to teach releases and used to get Daunte Culpepper celebrating in UFL film rooms. The new Dolphins coach blends the unorthodox with a lifetime in the NFL.
New Hurricanes WR commit Keyshawn Smith is early enrolling at Miami, according to his high school coach. “He starts school tomorrow. He’s flying out in the next two hours."
Hassan Whiteside: “I’m a little disappointed with how the fans reacted, but it is what it is." He said he was actually more upset about people chanting, "We got shooters!" "I think it got misinterpreted," he said.
John Ruiz is holding a press conference right now to announce he's filing a class-action lawsuit against the FHSAA regarding the state's NIL laws, which is great, but there was also, uhh, not a lot of quality control done on this Zoom and someone screen shared a Pornhub video.
D'Eriq King: "Honestly, I had a lot on my mind tonight. This was my first game in my whole entire life without my dad. ... I went out there and just played for him. I couldn't stop thinking about him the whole night."
Alex Mirabal, who I didn't recognize initially, was out at practice, too. He was wearing Miami gear. UM still has not officially announced him as the new offensive line coach, but it sure seems like he is.
Raul Aguirre goes with the double fakeout on Georgia and Alabama, and then picks Miami. It's another huge get for Mario Cristobal. He's poised to be the highest ranked linebacker to sign with the Hurricanes since 2017.